Constantine Character Sheet

[Dumorte]

Hello! I am joining my first ever Hero System 6th edition campaign and I want to make a John Constantine (Hellblazer) type of character. I'm reading through the book and I am able to figure some things out but other things are super confusing to me. Anyway, I wanted to post here what I have made so far for the character and see what I can change or I am misunderstanding. Currently, our starting point limit is 400 pts. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

val    char  Points

10    str        00 

20    dex       20

15    con       05

22    int         12

22    ego       12

15    pre        05

06    ocv        15

06    dcv        15

07    omcv     12

07    dmcv     12

03    spd        10

07    pd          05

07    ed          05

09    rec         05

50    end         06

15    body       05

40   stun         10

 

Skills, Perks, Talents

• Absolute Time Sense
• Analyze
• Forgery
• Shadowing
• Pro/Knowledge (Occult)
• Bump of Direction
• Bribery
• Gambling
• Sleight of Hand
• Pro/Knowledge (Religion)
• Combat Luck
• Bureaucratics
• High Society
• Stealth
• Scholar
• Resistance
• Charm
• Interrogation
• Streetwise
• Traveler
• Simulate Death
• Concealment
• Lipreading
• Tactics
• Well-Connected
• Language (Angelic)
• Conversation
• Lockpicking
• Tracking
• Jack of All Trades
• Language (Demonic)
• Cryptography
• Navigation
• Trading  
• Language (Latin)
• Deduction
• Persuasion
• Ventriloquism  

 

POWERS

• Barrier (4m long, 4m tall, 2m thick barrier) (Incantations, Lockout, Concentration)
• Blast (3d6 Magic) (Incantations, Lockout)
• Killing Attack (Incantations, Limited Power: Only Demons)
• Dispel (4d6) (Incantations)
• Healing (2d6) (Incantations, Concentration, Lockout)
• Mental Defense (Always On)
• Mental Illusions (4d6) (Incantations)
• Teleportation (5m) (No Limitations)

 

 

EDIT: The format I originally posted this as did not show up after being posted. So i fixed it to make it legible. 

Edited August 18, 2016 by Dumorte

[Christopher]

I have no idea what a "Constantine Archetype" would look like. And I have a brother with that name. So a bit elaboration would be required on what you are talking about:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine

I guess you could be meaning John Constantine (aka Hellblazer), DC. It does fit to superheroic setting (400 points) and the skills roughly, so I a going to asume that.

 

You did not mention any Powers, wich are somewhat important for superheroic characters. In particular his fighting style is entirely unknown.

A "detective" is naturally more inclined towards skilluse, wich works better in street level or heroic level settings then 400 point supers. However there is the mention of a "Detective" Meta-Archetype in Champions 6E, page 94. As it is a Meta-Archetype, you will need another primary archetype.

 

Here is what the book has on the mater of this Meta-Archetype:
"Detective
The Detective is a character who specializes in
using more or less traditional methods of investigation (criminalistics, criminology, interrogation,
deduction, and forensic analysis) to fght crime.
Typically (though not always) he possesses few or
no superpowers, preferring to rely on his Skills,
his intellect, and various devices or gadgets to
keep up with his truly superhuman colleagues.
Most Detectives are a combination of Martial
Artist, Weaponmaster, and/or Gadgeteer —
Batman being the classic example. But it’s certainly
possible for a Detective to have superpowers;
the Elongated Man and Daredevil could both be
considered to belong to this meta-archetype, for
example.
SKILLS, pErKS, TALEnTS, AnD poWErS
Detectives rely heavily on Skills. Te most
prominent are Concealment, Criminology,
Deduction, Forensic Medicine, Interrogation,
Lockpicking, Security Systems, Stealth, and Streetwise; other common choices include Computer
Programming, Electronics, various Interaction
Skills, Climbing, and Contortionist. Similarly, they
tend to favor Perks (particularly Contacts) and
Talents. If they don’t possess true superpowers
they usually have an arsenal of gadgets to make
up for the lack: guns; throwing blades; armored
costumes; swinglines; billy clubs; utility belts; and
many more.
CompLICATIonS
Detectives are ofen brooding, vengeancedriven souls with a thirst for Justice and a willingness to go further than most other costumed
heroes to see that it’s done. Tey tend to have
Psychological Complications representing these
major facets of their personalities... and unlike
their more four-color compatriots they may not
have a Code Versus Killing (though in a mainstream Champions campaign they’re rarely true
killers — they just recognize that in some situations lethal force is the only reasonable response).
Teir attitudes and sometimes-brutal methods
may cause them to acquire Hunteds or Negative
Reputations." (the PDF is a bit protected agaisnt Copy&Paste, so capping and spaces are a bit odd).

[assault]

Ok, you want an "occult detective". A useful skill set, that crosses over into mundane detective work too.

 

"Constantine type" means "not Constantine down to the fine details". That's good. Aim for the general feel, without getting bogged down into stuff that doesn't matter.

 

The Trenchcoat Brigade contains a number of other characters you could consider stealing bits from.

 

Aside from that, there are a number of general character design considerations.

 

First, talk to your GM. See what he or she has in mind for the campaign. Will your character fit in? What kind of opponents will the PCs be facing? It's not a lot of fun to be an occult detective if you are only going to be facing mutants, for example.

 

Then there is the question of what the character does in a fight. (Fights happen). How does he inflict damage? How does he avoid/deal with damage? How does he get around? Answering those three questions will provide a lot of shape to the character.

 

I would consider substantially upgrading the characteristics you have given. As you have him, he would be fine in a Heroic campaign, but woefully underpowered in a Superheroic one. More Con (20 or 23) and Spd (5) for starters. Bumping up all his Combat Values by a point would be a good idea too. Maybe skip OCV if you must, but consider adding yet another point to DCV instead. Most NPCs will be throwing around attacks versus your DCV.

 

You will probably have to sacrifice some of the Skills, but don't worry about that until you have a better feel for the rest of the character. Remember, this will be a starting character.

[Dumorte]

Thank you both for your responses! Yes I definitely meant John Constantine of the Hellblazer series. I apologize for not specifying. 

 

I edit my original post to make it more legible and I also added my current powers. I'm giving this character a twist and making him a Healer as well.

 

I asked the GM the questions and it looks like he is actually waiting on all the characters to be created to then make a world to best fit our characters. So i guess that means, I can go with what I please for now. Haha. The only thing he did say is that he recommended me removing Luck as a power because it's used very scarcely. So I did.

 

Then there is the question of what the character does in a fight. (Fights happen). How does he inflict damage? How does he avoid/deal with damage? How does he get around? Answering those three questions will provide a lot of shape to the character.

 

 

Fights: He always tries to talk himself out of a fight (and I want this to succeed more often than not). If he cant talk himself out of it, then I've chosen the option to use Mental Illusions to mess with the opponent, magical blasts if I have no choice, and Teleport to if I need to get outta there asap. If it's a demon, I've gone with a banishing spell that would translate according to my GM to a powerful Killing Attack vs Demons.

 

Avoid/Deal with Damage: He can create barriers, mental illusions as a distraction to run away/teleport. Also, i put points in Combat Luck to see if that helps!

 

Transportation: Good question. So far all I have is teleport but it's not that big a range. I'll have to see what I can do here. I would probably like him to do an incantation to teleport where needed? Or maybe create a portal that allows said teleport?

 

 

I had gone through the characteristics again after reading the book section more thoroughly and came up with this:

 

val     char      Pnts

10      str         0

20      dex      20

20      con      10

22      int        12

22      ego      12

15      pre        5

06      ocv      15

06      dcv      15

07      omcv    12

07      dmcv    12

03      spd       10

07      pd          5

07      ed          5

09      rec         5

50      end        6

15      body      5

40      stun      10

 

 

But then I saw your post about having to boost things sooo I'm gonna redo it, haha.

 

 

Again, thank you for all the help! This is indeed a starting character so I have lots to learn! :X

 

 

Edit: fixed the chart format. after mod approval they seem to lose their formats (or not keep the format at all)

Edited August 16, 2016 by Dumorte

[Christopher]

Fights: He always tries to talk himself out of a fight (and I want this to succeed more often than not). If he cant talk himself out of it, then I've chosen the option to use Mental Illusions to mess with the opponent, magical blasts if I have no choice, and Teleport to if I need to get outta there asap. If it's a demon, I've gone with a banishing spell that would translate according to my GM to a powerful Killing Attack vs Demons.

 

Avoid/Deal with Damage: He can create barriers, mental illusions as a distraction to run away/teleport. Also, i put points in Combat Luck to see if that helps!

 

Transportation: Good question. So far all I have is teleport but it's not that big a range. I'll have to see what I can do here. I would probably like him to do an incantation to teleport where needed? Or maybe create a portal that allows said teleport?

Fights:

Talking yourself out of Fights, would mean talking the Team out of fights. Same way with retreating. So you can not really bank on that in a Team.

Unless you could agree with your enemies to "one of you stays out and so do I". However, be warned that Combat Resolution takes considerable time in Hero so you might not be doing anything worthwhile for a while as a player.

 

Avoid/deal damage:

Combat Luck is basically just "Defenses, can only be taken away by unconsciousness". Wearing a Power Armor, Superthick Skin, a Bioelectric Aura, Combat Luck - all special effects for the same game effect.

 

Transportation:

Again, think of the team. You propably Need a Teleport with Megascale and Usable on Nearby. However, this power will not be combat useable due to all the Megascale+NCM penalties on movement in general and Teleport in particular.

[Dumorte]

Fights:

Talking yourself out of Fights, would mean talking the Team out of fights. Same way with retreating. So you can not really bank on that in a Team.

Unless you could agree with your enemies to "one of you stays out and so do I". However, be warned that Combat Resolution takes considerable time in Hero so you might not be doing anything worthwhile for a while as a player.

 

 

That makes sense... I didn't think about that. I guess I can rely on the Mental Illusions, magical blasts and Killing Attack vs Demons? I would be more in the back Healing.

 

Avoid/deal damage:

Combat Luck is basically just "Defenses, can only be taken away by unconsciousness". Wearing a Power Armor, Superthick Skin, a Bioelectric Aura, Combat Luck - all special effects for the same game effect.

 

 

That's good to know! Luckily I'm planning on barrier powers, heals. Assuming heals here work the same way as in other games.

 

Transportation:

Again, think of the team. You propably Need a Teleport with Megascale and Usable on Nearby. However, this power will not be combat useable due to all the Megascale+NCM penalties on movement in general and Teleport in particular.

 

 

I did think of a mass teleport ability but I think I read that it's very very expensive? Also, I can't use a solo teleport during combat? Or am I reading that wrong.

[massey]

If your game master uses published materials, when you face a normal enemy, you will be outgunned. Your average super-enemy will probably have a 12D6 attack, about a 5 Speed, and an OCV of around 8 or 9. That means that they'll shoot at you, they'll likely hit you, the attack will go through your defenses, be higher than your Con, and you'll lose your next action. That's bad when it is the average enemy attack.

 

I'm posting on my phone at the moment, but when I get to a computer I'll try to give you more info on how to make your character competitive in combat.

[Dumorte]

If your game master uses published materials, when you face a normal enemy, you will be outgunned. Your average super-enemy will probably have a 12D6 attack, about a 5 Speed, and an OCV of around 8 or 9. That means that they'll shoot at you, they'll likely hit you, the attack will go through your defenses, be higher than your Con, and you'll lose your next action. That's bad when it is the average enemy attack.

 

I'm posting on my phone at the moment, but when I get to a computer I'll try to give you more info on how to make your character competitive in combat.

 

oh wow... that sounds insane... is my type of character even viable in a Hero campaign then? I dont see how I can fight against all that at with just 400 points after seeing the cost of powers :X

[massey]

Hello! I am joining my first ever Hero System 6th edition campaign and I want to make a Constantine type of character. I'm reading through the book and I am able to figure some things out but other things are super confusing to me. Anyway, I wanted to post here what I have made so far for the character and see what I can change or I am misunderstanding. Currently, our starting point limit is 400 pts. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

val    char  Points

10    str        00 

20    dex       20

15    con       05

22    int         12

22    ego       12

15    pre        05

06    ocv        15

06    dcv        15

07    omcv     12

07    dmcv     12

03    spd        10

07    pd          05

07    ed          05

09    rec         05

50    end         06

15    body       05

40   stun         10

 

Skills, Perks, Talents

• Absolute Time Sense
• Analyze
• Forgery
• Shadowing
• Pro/Knowledge (Occult)
• Bump of Direction
• Bribery
• Gambling
• Sleight of Hand
• Pro/Knowledge (Religion)
• Combat Luck
• Bureaucratics
• High Society
• Stealth
• Scholar
• Resistance
• Charm
• Interrogation
• Streetwise
• Traveler
• Simulate Death
• Concealment
• Lipreading
• Tactics
• Well-Connected
• Language (Angelic)
• Conversation
• Lockpicking
• Tracking
• Jack of All Trades
• Language (Demonic)
• Cryptography
• Navigation
• Trading  
• Language (Latin)
• Deduction
• Persuasion
• Ventriloquism  

 

POWERS

• Barrier (4m long, 4m tall, 2m thick barrier) (Incantations, Lockout, Concentration)
• Blast (3d6 Magic) (Incantations, Lockout)
• Killing Attack (Incantations, Limited Power: Only Demons)
• Dispel (4d6) (Incantations)
• Healing (2d6) (Incantations, Concentration, Lockout)
• Mental Defense (Always On)
• Mental Illusions (4d6) (Incantations)
• Teleportation (5m) (No Limitations)

 

 

EDIT: The format I originally posted this as did not show up after being posted. So i fixed it to make it legible. 

 

Okay, let's take a look at this character.

 

 

 

val    char  Points

10    str        00 

20    dex       20

15    con       05

22    int         12

22    ego       12

15    pre        05

06    ocv        15

06    dcv        15

07    omcv     12

07    dmcv     12

03    spd        10

07    pd          05

07    ed          05

09    rec         05

50    end         06

15    body       05

40   stun         10

 

Okay, first thing that jumps out is that your Con is too low.  If you take more points of Stun past your defenses, than you have Con, then you will be "Stunned" and you will lose your next action.  You only have a 3 Speed, so those actions are really important to you.  You don't want to lose them if you can help it.  A good rule of thumb is whatever the average damage for the campaign is, you should take at least that much in Defenses + Con.  So if your GM is going to run a game where the average attack is 12D6, you're going to want at least 42 or 43 total Def+Con.  20 Def, 23 Con would work.  This means that if you get hit by the enemy, he won't stun you on just his regular normal average attack.  He's at least gotta roll kinda good to do that.

 

The second thing that jumps out to me is your low Speed score.  You probably want at least a 5 here.  Because sometimes, you are going to get stunned.  You are going to have to abort to dodge sometimes.  And sometimes you are going to miss when you shoot at someone.

 

Finally, your Int and Ego are at weird numbers.  You gain very little from having them at a 22.  Buy them up to a 23, and you will get a better Int roll and a better Ego roll.  It's just two more points, but you'll get a big improvement in your skill rolls.

 

 

 

Skills, Perks, Talents

• Absolute Time Sense
• Analyze
• Forgery
• Shadowing
• Pro/Knowledge (Occult)
• Bump of Direction
• Bribery
• Gambling
• Sleight of Hand
• Pro/Knowledge (Religion)
• Combat Luck
• Bureaucratics
• High Society
• Stealth
• Scholar
• Resistance
• Charm
• Interrogation
• Streetwise
• Traveler
• Simulate Death
• Concealment
• Lipreading
• Tactics
• Well-Connected
• Language (Angelic)
• Conversation
• Lockpicking
• Tracking
• Jack of All Trades
• Language (Demonic)
• Cryptography
• Navigation
• Trading  
• Language (Latin)
• Deduction
• Persuasion
• Ventriloquism 

 

 

Okay, so you're probably going to be pressed for points since this is a starting character.  Some of the stuff you've taken is not going to be that useful to you, and/or I would suggest is not that much a core part of the character's concept.  You can probably safely get rid of the following:

 

Absolute Time Sense (he doesn't have a watch? why is it important that he always knows what time it is?)

Bump of Direction (is he really going to be wandering around in the wilderness with no map?)

Resistance (never in my 20 years of Hero gaming have I ever seen this used, will your character be resisting torture often?  is he withholding secrets from an enemy?  and his Ego roll is gonna be pretty good already)

Traveler/Well Connected/Jack of All Trades (these skill enhancers give you a cost break if you buy a lot of one particular type of skill.  you haven't bought any of these skills, so you don't need the skill enhancer)

High Society (do you often dine with the very rich in snooty situations?  do you know the difference betwen one type of caviar and another?)

Bureaucratics (do you have extensive skill in cutting through red tape?  do you know the ins and outs of getting the government to do something?)

Cryptography (do you crack military codes?)

Navigation (does he spend a lot of time on the high seas, or plotting his route across open terrain by the position of the stars?)

Simulate Death (kinda cool, and thematically appropriate for your character, but not going to come up very often at all -- save this for when you've got points to burn)

 

Scholar and Linguist are both relatively useful for you.  They are skill enhancers, just like Traveler/Well Connected/Jack of All Trades.  But they reduce the price of knowledge skills and languages, respectively.  You've got 3 language skills, but only one knowledge skill.  You should stock up on more knowledges to make it worth taking.

 

 

 

 

POWERS

• Barrier (4m long, 4m tall, 2m thick barrier) (Incantations, Lockout, Concentration)
• Blast (3d6 Magic) (Incantations, Lockout)
• Killing Attack (Incantations, Limited Power: Only Demons)
• Dispel (4d6) (Incantations)
• Healing (2d6) (Incantations, Concentration, Lockout)
• Mental Defense (Always On)
• Mental Illusions (4d6) (Incantations)
• Teleportation (5m) (No Limitations)

 

Okay, you need some help here.  

 

A 3D6 Blast is going to hit about as hard as a normal guy punching you.  Maybe a guy who is kinda strong.  Not really strong, just kinda.  For your points level, you need something that is at least 10D6.  Probably go closer to 12D6.

Your Killing Attack should probably be in the 4D6 RKA range.

2D6 Healing is kind of okay, but it's really limited.  You're not going to be able to heal all that much.  It's going to be a little more effective than performing first aid on someone.  At this level, it is probably not worth the action that it takes to use the power.

Mental Defense should generally not receive a limitation for "always on".  Technically it does cause you some negative effects, because your buddies can't use helpful mental powers on you, but talk about it with your GM first.  Many people don't allow "always on" defenses.

A 4D6 Dispel is not enough.  You have to roll high enough to beat the Active Points of whatever it is you're Dispelling.  So you want to get about 50 to 60 on your dice when you roll.  So I'd say 15D6 or more for Dispel to be really useful.

4D6 Mental Illusions is not enough.  On a good roll, it will allow you to make minor changes in the scenery against a person who has a totally average willpower.  This will be totally ineffective in combat.  Again, go up to about 12D6.

5m of Teleportation will let you teleport to the other side of a room.  Kinda useful.  You can go through walls and stuff.  And yes, you can do it in combat.  But you're going to want a bigger movement power if you're in combat with dangerous things.  I recommend at least 20m of combat movement.

[Dumorte]

Massey, oh man. Thank you so much for all your help! I'm gonna get on fixing things up right away!

 

But, am I able to fit all that with a 400 point limit?

[Tom Cowan]

For some (or most) of your powers you may wish to put them in a multipower.  How often are you going to be using your

• Blast (3d6 Magic) (Incantations, Lockout)
• Killing Attack (Incantations, Limited Power: Only Demons)
• Dispel (4d6) (Incantations)
• Healing (2d6) (Incantations, Concentration, Lockout)

at the same time? some of the powers have lockout so that may need to go but the cost saving from a multipower is bigger

[massey]

400 points?  Maybe not, but now you at least have a good idea of what you should be aiming for.

 

One thing you can do is put your attacks together in a Multipower.  A Multipower is in the section called "power frameworks".  Basically, a Multipower allows you to have lots of different powers, but you can only use a limited number of them at any one time.  It's great for attack powers, because you're normally only going to be attacking with one of them at a time anyway.  You get a big cost savings by doing that.

 

You've got a lot of other skills that, while kinda fun and related to your concept, you probably don't really need.

 

I'm assuming that the Analyze skill is going to be Analyze: Magic.  Or something else similar.  You pick something that you can analyze when you buy that skill.  Talk to your GM if he thinks this is something that will come up in the game.  If not, you probably don't need it.  The skill can be very useful if the GM wants to get really detailed.  But if he's not planning on running a game with lots of variation in magic types, or demonic creatures, or whatever, then it may not be useful for you.  Analyze: Magic would allow your character to (for example) determine if a particular spell was cast by innate magic, a demonic pact, a ritual, stored energy in some magic wand, or something like that.  Very useful in the right kind of campaign.  Not useful in others.

 

Forgery, likewise, could tell you if a particular ancient tome was the real thing, or if it had been faked.  You'd probably be more interested in mystic forgeries than you would in detecting counterfeit $100 bills.  But again, this is only gonna come up if the GM wants to incorporate that kind of story in the game.

 

Shadowing is good, lets you follow people without them knowing you're doing it.  I can see this being useful in an average campaign.

 

Same with Bribery.  Good for a detective to have.

 

Gambling is a fun addition, can definitely be in character.  But it's probably something you're buying for flavor.

 

Slight of Hand basically lets you do stage magician stuff (but not really anything that will have a combat effect).  Very situational, good for background stuff.  Could come up in a game.

 

Stealth is good.  Charm is good.  Interrogation, Streetwise, Concealment, Lipreading.  These are all detective-type skills and seem appropriate to the character.

 

Tracking... do you hunt animals?  Like forgery, tracking could be one of those skills where you specialize in a different area.  You might take Tracking to represent how you can follow demons and spirits and stuff through the city.  Talk to your GM about that, so that you're on the same page.

 

Same with Trading.  I doubt you're an old school merchant, but you might know how to barter with spirits and demons and things.  You know how much a soul is worth or something.  Again, talk to your GM about wanting this skill to operate more in a "spiritual" sense (if that's what you want).

 

Deduction is good.  It's for when you (the player) are having a brain fart and can't piece together the GM's puzzle.  Persuasion is good.

 

Ventriloquism is another of those "just for fun" skills.  Your character would probably know how to do it, but I haven't seen it come up in play very often.  Maybe our group just isn't creative enough to use it right.

 

 

 

Anyway, that's my advice on those.  Skills can be fun, and can add some personality to the character.  So I recommend keeping a lot of them if you can.  But your guy needs to be able to hold up in combat too.  Nothing sucks the fun out of a character more quickly than finding out he gets his butt kicked all the time.

[Christopher]

I did think of a mass teleport ability but I think I read that it's very very expensive? Also, I can't use a solo teleport during combat? Or am I reading that wrong.

You can use Solo Port during Combat. You can even take enemies or friends equal to your weight limit along. It is a normal move action, like running, swimming or flight. The only thing special is that you "transport weight" is not limited by strenght, but the Power build.

 

One big advantage of Megascale is that you can take any small movement amount, and scale it up to 1, 10, 100 or 1000 of kms. You want to avoid too extreme Scaling however, as it does affects how far you get off the mark if you miss your teleport.

I am not quite sure how it worked with useable by nearby, Teleport and the weight limit. Might have too re-read that part of the rules.

And again, Multipower. Either put it into the Multipower with all your Attack & Adjustment Powers, or make one only for movement. It is impossible to use more then two movement power in a Phase anyway and you rarely need more then one anyway, making savings here a non-issue.

[Lucius]

The real question is, Constantine at what stage of his life?

 

I thought it would be interesting to do a version of Constantine after he's first been elevated to the Tetrarchy but well before he starts having weird visions and telling his soldiers what to paint on their shields.

 

 

Constantine (when first endowed with purple)

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6kg; 2 ½d6 [3]

13 DEX 6 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5

15 CON 5 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-

13 EGO 3 12- ECV: 3 - 3

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

 

5 OCV 10

5 DCV 10

3 OMCV 0

3 DMCV 0

3 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12

 

5 PD 3 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD)

5 ED 3 Total: 5 ED (0 rED)

4 REC 0

20 END 0

10 BODY 0

20 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 57

 

Movement:Running: 8m/16m

Leaping: 4m/8m

Swimming: 4m/8m

 

Cost Powers END

Imperial Powers

10 1) Fringe Benefit: Is One Head of a Multi-headed State

4 2) Positive Reputation: "Hail Constantine! He's our Augustus!" (A medium-sized group: Soldiers he's commanded) 14-, +2/+2d6

3 3) He looks grand in purple: +2/+2d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters) (6 Active Points); OIF (Imperial Purple; -½), Conditional Power Can't be wearing purple robes ALL the time (-¼)

2 4) "It's all Greek to YOU but I know enough Greek to know this is NOT Greek. This is a code using Greek letters.": Cryptography 10-

3 5) "Come, we are civilized Romans. Please answer my reasonable questions and let us end this...unpleasantness.": Interrogation 12-

 

Talents

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

 

Skills

0 Highborn Roman

3 1) "Soldiers to conquer an empire, but clerks are needed to run one.": Bureaucratics 12-

3 2) "Arise, go forth, and conquer!": Oratory 12-

3 3) High Society 12-

3 4) "Something to remember me by, you see it has my name and countenance stamped on it....": Bribery 12-

0 Roman Soldier and Officer

6 1) WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Siege Engines

3 2) "He should not have brought a pilum to an arbelest fight": Tactics 12-

3 3) "I rode hard through the night and changed horses a dozen times": Riding 12-

2 4) Animal Handler (Equines) 12-

2 5) Charioteer: Combat Driving 10-

3 6) Ambuscade: Concealment 12-

2 7) Scout: Stealth 10-

3 8) Foraging: Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Battlefield) 12-

0 Classical Education

1 1) Familiar with the Logic of Aristotle: Deduction 8-

2 2) "I learned a little of the healer's craft": Paramedics 10-

2 3) "Follow me. I know where I'm going.": Navigation (Land) 12-

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: Imperial Politics (3 Active Points) 12-

1 2) KS: Philosophy (2 Active Points) 11-

1 3) KS: Roman History (2 Active Points) 11-

1 4) KS: Roman Law (2 Active Points) 11-

0 Languages

0 1) Language: Latin (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)

3 2) Language: Thracian (fluent conversation; literate)

2 3) Language: Greek (basic conversation; literate)

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 82

Total Cost: 139

 

175+ Matching Complications

125 Base Points

10 Rivalry: Professional (Other Emperors; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Harm or Kill Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)

15 Psychological Complication: Ambition (Common; Strong)

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary tells me I seem to have gotten the wrong Constantine, even if this one is Great

[Dumorte]

A couple of you have suggested using a Multipower so I read into it and Oh, man. That is a fantastic idea! I think I'm definitely gonna go with a multipower for my current powers. Unless I understand it wrong, it'll benefit my character greatly especially since most of my spells cant be cast simultaneously, yes?

 

Massey, yet again you have opened my eyes to the real use of skills. I think I've cut my skills own by half now saving a lot of points. And it's a good thing! 

 

One big advantage of Megascale is that you can take any small movement amount, and scale it up to 1, 10, 100 or 1000 of kms. You want to avoid too extreme Scaling however, as it does affects how far you get off the mark if you miss your teleport.

 

 

I'll read up more on megascale. I think for now I've decided on a small teleport for during combat uses and a Fixed Teleport to a specific location. Still working in it though.

 

 

Lucious... LOL. That is amaaazing! The fact that you could even come up with that so fast amazes me. Even though it is indeed the wrong Constantine, seeing your character sheet reminds me of things I have neglected! So, thanks for that!

 

 

I'm currently reworking my character sheet and making a multipower so I will post that here soon to make sure I didn't goof up something or if I'm doing something horribly wrong. Again, thank you all so much for your help!!!

[Dumorte]

Reading through Barriers, it looks like I vastly underestimated the complication of said spell. What I am trying to build is a Half Sphere-like barrier that can shield whoever is inside from all attacks going on outside.

 

The group is about 4-5 people, so maybe have a diameter of about 6 meters? 

 

Not sure on how to even begin calculating this :/

 

So, messing with a Multipower creation (where all powers are variable), i have the following:

 

• MULTIPOWER POOL  (60 points)
• Barrier (6m diameter half sphere) [base Cost: __, Slot Cost:__ ]
• Blast (12d6 Magic) [base Cost: 60, Slot Cost: 12]
• Killing Attack (4d6) (Limited Power: Only Demons) [base Cost: 60, Slot Cost:__ ]
• Dispel (15d6) [base Cost: 45, Slot Cost: 9 ]
• Healing (5d6) (Concentration, Lockout) [base Cost: 50, Slot Cost:__ ]
• Mental Defense [base Cost: 10, Slot Cost: 2]
• Mental Illusions (12d6) [base Cost: 60, Slot Cost: 12]
• Teleportation (20m) [base Cost: 20, Slot Cost: 4]
• Teleportation (Fixed Locations: Home from anywhere) [base Cost: __, Slot Cost:__ ]

 

The ones I left blank I am having trouble accurately calculating.

[Tom Cowan]

Mental Defense should not be put in the MULTIPOWER POOL

 

Teleportation: Fixed Location and Teleportation: Floating Fixed Location are like perks that are not part of the power but work with the power so the Teleportation: Fixed Location (home) costs 1 point and is not lumped with Teleportation

 

for fun

--Wall of Force: Barrier 15 PD/15 ED, 5 BODY (up to 6m long, 3m tall, and 1/2m thick) (60 Active Points); Incantations (-1/4), Gestures (-1/4), Restricted Shape (half sphere; -1/4)

(stops all ED/PD Attacks ether way. 6m circumference) 

 

 

--Break the Spell: Dispel Magic FX 6d6, Costs Endurance Only To Activate (+1/4), Constant (+1/2), Cumulative (576 points; +1 1/2) (58 Active Points); Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)

(you will break most spells if you have time)

 

--Gate: Teleportation 10m, x2 Increased Mass, Usable By Other (+1/4), Area Of Effect (2m Radius; +1/4), Constant (+1/2), MegaScale (1m = 10,000 km; +2) (60 Active Points); Gate (-1/2), Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)

(lets all go home if we are in 100,000 km of home, if you picked up Teleportation (Fixed Locations: Home))

 

 

--Shift the Field: Teleportation 17m, x2 Increased Mass, Usable Simultaneously (up to 8 people at once; +1 3/4), Grantor pays the END whenever the power is used, Recipient must be within Standard Range of the Grantor for power to be granted, Grantor controls the power totally (60 Active Points); Gestures (-1/4), Incantations (-1/4)

(OK the GM may not like this one)

[Christopher]

Reading through Barriers, it looks like I vastly underestimated the complication of said spell. What I am trying to build is a Half Sphere-like barrier that can shield whoever is inside from all attacks going on outside.

 

The group is about 4-5 people, so maybe have a diameter of about 6 meters?

Barrier is usually easy. Unless you want your team to be able to attack through (with anything but Mental Powers). Barriers affect everyone equally.

[Tasha]

So first you MUST know the powerlevel of the campaign you are writing the character for. IMHO 400pts is a bit light for a campaign based around 12d6 attacks. 400pt characters tend to work better with 10d6 attacks and defenses.

So, Math behind the stats. Assuming a 10d6 attack campaign. an average hit does 35stun and 10body. So IF your PD and/or ED plus Con sum is less than 35 your character will remain stunned (ie 1/2 dcv and unable to do anything but recover from being stunned). Which sucks. I recommend that base PD and ED are equal to twice the number of damage dice thrown. ie 10d6 attacks in campaign would have an average character having a 20 PD and 20 ED (either from the base stats or stats plus other defenses (not barrier). Subtract defenses from average damage to get the amount of Constitution you should have (ie 15 Con).  I would recommend having enough stun to take 2 of those hits (so 30 Stun base). 

 

A campaign with a 12d6 average would have average defenses of 24. An average attack does 42 stun 12 body so Defenses minus average stun done = 18 or minimum of 18 Con.

If you don't keep these number in mind you will find your character being totally inadequate in combat.

You should also know the Average Dex and SPD for the campaign. Your character's Dex of 13 and SPD 3 is ok for a non superhero game, but most Supers games tend to average 20-23 Dex and SPD 5. Your character should be at the average otherwise you will spend most of your time waiting for the other characters to act nearly twice as often as your character does.

The last numbers you need to know the averages of are OCV/DCV and OMCV and DMCV. The Mental Combat values aren't usually as important as the Physical OCV/DCV. Your character again should be at the average for these values. Being low in OCV means that you will never hit your target. being even 2 or 3 less than the targets DCV will make your chance to hit be 8 or less which is a very hard roll to make. A low DCV means that EVERYONE will hit you. Also if your DCV is low enough your opponents will be able to use more difficult, high damage combat manuvers like move throughs and Haymakers.

I hope this helps. Hit your Characteristics numbers FIRST, Then dial your powers in (making sure they are at the average damage), after that buy your Skills. If you find yourself needing points to pay for everything. Look into taking additional limitations on powers. good ones for mages are requires a skill roll, Incantations and Gestures, Extra time.

Also, don't put all of your abilities in the Multipower. Only put your attacks in the MP. For your defenses, use the limitation Unified Power (Magical Spells).

To make the math easier, I Highly recommend the product Hero Designer. It's a Java program that helps you build Hero System characters. It makes you life a LOT easier. It can be purchased in the Hero Games webstore.

[Christopher]

So first you MUST know the powerlevel of the campaign you are writing the character for. IMHO 400pts is a bit light for a campaign based around 12d6 attacks. 400pt characters tend to work better with 10d6 attacks and defenses.

I can partially agree with that.

On the one hand 400 Points/12 DC is the common measurement from the book. However I also noticed that this tends towards playing beginner superheroes, not established ones. A lot of powers and skills have to be moved onto the "things I want to buy later" list.

 

I toyed with using "400 points but with 300 point caps" or "500 but with 400 point caps" to get more established heroes. But I have not gotten around to it yet.

[bubba smith]

I think urban fantasy HERO might have what you are looking for

[Black Ops]

The real question is, Constantine at what stage of his life?

 

I thought it would be interesting to do a version of Constantine after he's first been elevated to the Tetrarchy but well before he starts having weird visions and telling his soldiers what to paint on their shields.

 

 

Constantine (when first endowed with purple)

 

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

13 STR 3 12- Lift 151.6kg; 2 ½d6 [3]

13 DEX 6 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5

15 CON 5 12-

13 INT 3 12- PER Roll 12-

13 EGO 3 12- ECV: 3 - 3

15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6

 

5 OCV 10

5 DCV 10

3 OMCV 0

3 DMCV 0

3 SPD 10 Phases: 4, 8, 12

 

5 PD 3 Total: 5 PD (0 rPD)

5 ED 3 Total: 5 ED (0 rED)

4 REC 0

20 END 0

10 BODY 0

20 STUN 0 Total Characteristic Cost: 57

 

Movement:Running: 8m/16m

Leaping: 4m/8m

Swimming: 4m/8m

 

Cost Powers END

Imperial Powers

10 1) Fringe Benefit: Is One Head of a Multi-headed State

4 2) Positive Reputation: "Hail Constantine! He's our Augustus!" (A medium-sized group: Soldiers he's commanded) 14-, +2/+2d6

3 3) He looks grand in purple: +2/+2d6 Striking Appearance (vs. all characters) (6 Active Points); OIF (Imperial Purple; -½), Conditional Power Can't be wearing purple robes ALL the time (-¼)

2 4) "It's all Greek to YOU but I know enough Greek to know this is NOT Greek. This is a code using Greek letters.": Cryptography 10-

3 5) "Come, we are civilized Romans. Please answer my reasonable questions and let us end this...unpleasantness.": Interrogation 12-

 

Talents

6 Combat Luck (3 PD/3 ED)

 

Skills

0 Highborn Roman

3 1) "Soldiers to conquer an empire, but clerks are needed to run one.": Bureaucratics 12-

3 2) "Arise, go forth, and conquer!": Oratory 12-

3 3) High Society 12-

3 4) "Something to remember me by, you see it has my name and countenance stamped on it....": Bribery 12-

0 Roman Soldier and Officer

6 1) WF: Common Melee Weapons, Common Missile Weapons, Siege Engines

3 2) "He should not have brought a pilum to an arbelest fight": Tactics 12-

3 3) "I rode hard through the night and changed horses a dozen times": Riding 12-

2 4) Animal Handler (Equines) 12-

2 5) Charioteer: Combat Driving 10-

3 6) Ambuscade: Concealment 12-

2 7) Scout: Stealth 10-

3 8) Foraging: Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, Battlefield) 12-

0 Classical Education

1 1) Familiar with the Logic of Aristotle: Deduction 8-

2 2) "I learned a little of the healer's craft": Paramedics 10-

2 3) "Follow me. I know where I'm going.": Navigation (Land) 12-

3 Scholar

2 1) KS: Imperial Politics (3 Active Points) 12-

1 2) KS: Philosophy (2 Active Points) 11-

1 3) KS: Roman History (2 Active Points) 11-

1 4) KS: Roman Law (2 Active Points) 11-

0 Languages

0 1) Language: Latin (idiomatic; literate) (5 Active Points)

3 2) Language: Thracian (fluent conversation; literate)

2 3) Language: Greek (basic conversation; literate)

 

Total Powers & Skill Cost: 82

Total Cost: 139

 

175+ Matching Complications

125 Base Points

10 Rivalry: Professional (Other Emperors; Rival is As Powerful; Seek to Harm or Kill Rival; Rival Aware of Rivalry)

15 Psychological Complication: Ambition (Common; Strong)

 

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary tells me I seem to have gotten the wrong Constantine, even if this one is Great

 

 

Wrong Constantine I guess?

[Dumorte]

Tasha. Thank you so much for all the information! That was extremely helpful! I have altered some characteristics to best fit your tips!

 

Unfortunately, I have asked the GM over and over for campaign information but he just wont spill the beans. I believe he is actually just waiting on all characters to be finished to see how best to make a campaign to fit the characters? If that makes sense? 

 

But, I have taken what everyone here has mentioned to heart and I have completely revamped this character! I will keep trying to push info out of the GM to make more alterations, lol.

 

Thank you all so much for all the help and tips!

[Tasha]

Tasha. Thank you so much for all the information! That was extremely helpful! I have altered some characteristics to best fit your tips!

 

Unfortunately, I have asked the GM over and over for campaign information but he just wont spill the beans. I believe he is actually just waiting on all characters to be finished to see how best to make a campaign to fit the characters? If that makes sense? 

 

But, I have taken what everyone here has mentioned to heart and I have completely revamped this character! I will keep trying to push info out of the GM to make more alterations, lol.

 

Thank you all so much for all the help and tips!

NP

 

Without campaign guidelines beyond 400pt characters, they have given you a nearly impossible task. Without knowing campaign averages you have no basis on which to build the character. ie even something as small as knowing how many dice the GM sees the PC's throwing on average can make a huge difference in PC construction. If you can I would talk to the other players and see if you can find out how powerful (ie Dice, Defenses, OCV/DCV) their characters are going to be. See if all of you can come to a consensus as to powerlevel.

[Tasha]

I can partially agree with that.

On the one hand 400 Points/12 DC is the common measurement from the book. However I also noticed that this tends towards playing beginner superheroes, not established ones. A lot of powers and skills have to be moved onto the "things I want to buy later" list.

 

I toyed with using "400 points but with 300 point caps" or "500 but with 400 point caps" to get more established heroes. But I have not gotten around to it yet.

It depends on how you want characters to be built. 400pts works great with power heavy supers that only have a few Skills on the Character Sheet. With a Powers focus, 12d6 out ok. If you as GM are expecting fully rounded characters that are as flexable as a Heroic Level character plus Powers then 12d6 as an average doesn't work well. The PC's skills will take up too many points and the PC's will either have powers ridiculously limited or the PC's will only have a few powers. So in that case the GM has a couple of choices IF they wish to remain with the 400pt limit. They can either bring the powerlevel down to 10d6 (or even 8d6 average) or they can give the PC's more points 500pt characters work well for a heavy Skills +Powers game at 12d6).

 

BTW the powerlevels in the books for the point levels are so wide as to nearly be unusuable as guidelines. IMHO giving Averages and allowing players to trade off CV, SPD, and Damage (Informal rule of X) is better for giving players an idea of how to build their PCs.